September, 08 2009, 11:14am EDT
Robert Weissman, Longtime Corporate Accountability Expert and Activist, Is Public Citizen's New President
Harvard-Trained Lawyer and Essential Action Director Helped Lower Cost of HIV/AIDS Drugs in Developing Countries
WASHINGTON
Robert Weissman, longtime director of the corporate accountability
organization Essential Action, editor of the Multinational Monitor, a
magazine that tracks corporate actors worldwide, and an attorney with
the Center for Study of Responsive Law, is Public Citizen's new
president, the organization announced today.
Weissman, 43, is a staunch public interest advocate and activist who
takes the helm of the organization as the nation wrestles with critical
choices that pit the public interest against the corporate interest.
Weissman's top priorities are climate
change ("the defining issue of the next 50 years, and the world right
now is on a terribly worrisome trajectory"), health care reform ("the
Obama administration and congressional leaders have refused to consider
the only approach - a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system - that can
cure the system's ills") and financial regulation ("through avarice and
recklessness, Wall Street has sunk us into the worst recession of the
past 70 years, yet rather than express shame, these institutions
continue to dominate the policymaking debate") as well as campaign
finance reform.
" Public Citizen will do everything it has done so well for nearly 40
years - and more," Weissman said "We are going to continue to work in
all branches of government and address a broad spectrum of issues. We
also will develop new ways to work with our members and allies, so that
together we build new forms of citizen power. And we will invest more
in organizing people, both virtually and through traditional,
on-the-ground means. I am proud to follow in the footsteps of Public
Citizen's first president and founder - Ralph Nader - and Joan
Claybrook, who served as Public Citizen's president for 27 years."
Bob Fellmeth, chairman of Public Citizen Foundation, said Weissman
was selected because of his exceptional background and ability to
effect change.
"We chose Rob because of his unique combination of traits: a
brilliant mind and fierce independence," Fellmeth said. "He is capable
of mastering the most complex public issues. At the same time, he is
plugged into the real world, as demonstrated by his crucial and
inspiring work to lower pharmacy prices for AIDS victims and others in
the developing world. Rob can master patent law and economic theory and
apply that knowledge politically for real-world outcomes."
"Robert Weissman is an extraordinarily talented person who is
steeped in the policy issues we pursue," said Claybrook, who will
remain on Public Citizen's board. "He cares deeply about this
organization and its public advocacy achievements. With the
opportunities and challenges presented by the Obama administration and
the Congress, his leadership will be crucial to the advancement of so
many needed reforms."
Weissman was born and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of
Cleveland. After graduating from Shaker Heights High School, he headed
to Harvard University. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard
College in 1989, earning a B.A. in social studies, and got his law
degree from Harvard Law School in 1995, graduating magna cum laude. He
remains a member of the Ohio bar.
In 1989, Weissman began editing the Multinational Monitor, a
magazine that tracks multinational corporations and reports on the
global economy, with a focus on labor, the environment, indigenous
rights, public health and consumer protection.
Essential Information (the umbrella organization for Essential
Action and the Multinational Monitor) and the Center for Study of
Responsive Law (a research and advocacy organization) were founded by
Nader. Essential Action was formed to provide a way to redress the
injustices reported in the Multinational Monitor magazine. Weissman has
directed the organization since 1995.
Weissman was a leader in organizing the 2000 International Monetary
Fund and World Bank protests in Washington D.C., helped make HIV drugs
available to the developing world and has provided assistance to
numerous governments on intellectual property and access to medicine
issues.
"Public Citizen is unique for its record of advancing the public
interest across a broad issue spectrum, its commitment to principle,
its tenacity and its insistence on focusing on root problems and
solutions," Weissman said. "Public Citizen stands out in Washington for
its tremendously accomplished and committed staff, with deep expertise
in a wide set of issues. I'm very excited to join this team."
READ a welcome message from Weissman.
Public Citizen is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that champions the public interest in the halls of power. We defend democracy, resist corporate power and work to ensure that government works for the people - not for big corporations. Founded in 1971, we now have 500,000 members and supporters throughout the country.
(202) 588-1000LATEST NEWS
Sanders Says 'Political Movement,' Not Murder, Is the Path to Medicare for All
"Killing people is not the way we're going to reform our healthcare system," he said. "The way we're going to reform our healthcare system is having people come together."
Dec 12, 2024
Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
"Look, when we talk about the healthcare crisis, in my view, and I think the view of a majority of Americans, the current system is broken, it is dysfunctional, it is cruel, and it is wildly inefficient—far too expensive," said Sanders (I-Vt.), whose position is backed up by various polls.
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The 83-year-old Vermonter, who was just reelected to what he says is likely his last six-year term, is an Independent but caucuses with Democrats and sought their presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. He has urged the Democratic Party to recognize why some working-class voters have abandoned it since Republicans won the White House and both chambers of Congress last month. A refusal to take on insurance and drug companies and overhaul the healthcare system, he argues, is one reason.
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In addition to highlighting Sanders' interview on social media, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out to Business Insider on Wednesday that "you've got thousands of people that are sharing their stories of frustration" in the wake of Thompson's death.
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"You condemn the murder of an insurance executive who was a father of two kids," he said. "At the same time, you say there's obviously an outpouring behavior of people whose claims are being denied, and we need to reform the system."
Two other Medicare for All advocates, Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), also made clear to Business Insider that they oppose Thompson's murder but understand some of the responses to it.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
The organization has also filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court "for war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists," according to the roundup, which includes stats from January 1 through December 1.
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Meanwhile, in a statement released Thursday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) announced that at least 139 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the war in Gaza began in 2023, and in a statement released Wednesday, IFJ announced that 104 journalists had perished worldwide this year (which includes deaths from January 1 through December 10). IFJ's number for all of 2024 appears to be higher than RSF because RSF is only counting deaths that occurred "on the job or in connection with their work."
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"By suing Southern Glazer under the Robinson-Patman Act, a law that has gone unenforced for decades, the FTC is doing what our government should be doing: using every tool possible to make life better for everyday Americans," she added.
According to the FTC:
Under the Robinson-Patman Act, it is generally illegal for sellers to engage in price discrimination that harms competition by charging higher prices to disfavored retailers that purchase similar goods. The FTC's case filed today seeks to ensure that businesses of all sizes compete on a level playing field with equivalent access to discounts and rebates, which means increased consumer choice and the ability to pass on lower prices to consumers shopping across independent retailers.
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